IBM, the U.S. Department of Energy-funded Quantum Science Center (QSC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and AMD have launched a new co-design platform for quantum error correction, integrating quantum and high-performance computing.
Over the last several years, researchers have made significant advances in the field of quantum error correction, including early demonstrations of protecting quantum information from noise, achieving quantum advantage over leading classical methods using techniques with guaranteed correctness, and showing that quantum computers integrated with classical computers can run industry-relevant problems. The research challenge now is to learn how to scale these advances using more classical computing.
To address this challenge, IBM, ORNL and AMD have launched a co-design platform for quantum error correction. The first deployment co-locates IBM’s quantum computers, including its 120-qubit IBM Quantum Nighthawk, with ORNL’s Umbra High-Performance Computing (HPC) system, and AMD’s Instinct™ MI355X GPUs and 5th Gen AMD EPYC™ CPUs. The AMD compute provides the classical computing foundation for research into quantum error correction, decoding optimization, and software orchestration. The co-design platform will connect with the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, creating a pathway to explore quantum as a part of a broader AI and scientific computing infrastructure. This will help the teams co-design how quantum, AI, and high-performance computing can evolve together instead of in isolation.
This co-design platform will allow researchers to evaluate the tight integration of classical and quantum computing to fuel momentum in quantum error correction research. Such work in quantum error correction is a key component in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Quantum Genesis Mission, which through its recently announced Q Competition targets 100 logical qubits running 100,000 hard operations by late 2028, which IBM said is a roughly 230-fold increase in hard operation count compared to its hardware today. Reaching that goal, said IBM, requires workflows that combine quantum processors with error correction techniques that leverage high-performance classical computing. These workflows include concatenated codes, space-time codes, algorithm-aware decoders, hardware-aware circuit optimization and compilation, and software orchestration all integrated in one stack.
“Solving the challenges of quantum error correction is essential to making quantum computing a practical tool for scientific discovery, which is a priority for Oak Ridge National Laboratory,” said Travis Humble, director of the Quantum Science Center. “ORNL’s strength in high-performance computing, combined with the expertise of our QSC partners – like IBM and AMD – creates an opportunity to push the boundaries of what is possible. With Umbra, we will now test new ideas, evaluate approaches at scale, and build the foundation for more reliable quantum computers.”
“The question is no longer if error correction will work on quantum hardware,” said Jay Gambetta, IBM Fellow and Director of IBM Research. “Today, the question is how to accelerate and optimize error correction to build systems that scientists can use to tackle meaningful problems. This new co-design platform for quantum error correction allows us to evaluate different approaches and determine the architectures, software, and workflows that will scale.”
“The next era of computing will bring the new quantum paradigm together with decades of innovation across the classical hardware and software ecosystem,” said Mark Papermaster, executive vice president and chief technology officer, AMD. “Together with IBM and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we are advancing a holistic approach that integrates quantum processors, high-performance computing and AI. This co-design platform is an important step toward building the scalable, efficient computing infrastructure needed to make fault-tolerant quantum computing a reality.”
